OK, here are some not-so-short thoughts on tonight’s viewings.

First, more thoughts about Jacob/MIB and what their purposes are. As this latest round of popups reminded us, Widmore wanted Locke back on the Island to make sure the right side won. In that same conversation, he named Locke “Jeremy Bentham.” When we found out his name back in the day, we all got to researching the panopticon, a prison in which inmates are viewable (or at least feel watched) from all angles. We all thought, Oh, could this be like the island? Well, sort of. We’ve now seen something closer to it: The lighthouse. (Dammit, I just read Doc Jensen, who also thought of this; I’m sure everyone else has already thought of this by now as well.) Anyhoo…all I’m saying is that if Jeremy Bentham invented it, is it such a stretch to say that MIB may actually be the lighthouse owner and he actually wants someone to replace HIM? Maybe that’s even why he’s recruiting. With Richard and Ilana showing major cracks in their understanding and even faith in Jacob, I’m not sure where to go with this yet…not really buying it, but it’s an interesting thought.

More stuff mentioned on the popup episode: If Dogen kills Sayid his own scale will tip to evil. I hadn’t thought of this before. It could explain why the Others were so against killing. The blackness that must enter your heart when you kill someone would likely make you extremely vulnerable to Smokey or “the sickness” whatever it is. Ben and Widmore both believed they were not able to kill each other. Possibly, to be leader, you can’t. I always assumed that Ben wanted Locke to kill his father to hurt his chances of being leader, rather than to prove he COULD be a leader. Well, I’m not saying that’s an original thought, but that this may be some more pieces to what was going on. Ben was hoping to blacken Locke’s heart, make him not able to become the leader.

OK, again, why does smokey not have Claire remove the ash and let him in right away? Possibly:
1. Dogen has some other power to protect that is not connected to the ash, therefore removing it would do no good. This is probably disproven by the idea that Dogen believes he can die if he leaves the Temple. Maybe the Temple and Dogen are linked, and if either is breached, both go down.
2. Locke wants to make deals with as many people as he can because he needs many of them (for whatever diabolical purpose), and he needs to appear fair about it. But he’s got plenty of souls, and who needs the souls that won’t follow you or fear you? Kill em.
In any case, I accept there could be easy valid reasons on this one.

Eko storyline. I understand that he had to be killed because the actor wanted out. But with each new piece of information, I have to re-explain this to myself. Smokey killed him, so he was not likely a candidate. But Smokey appeared to give him the chance to “confess.” This would have entailed him saying that he was sorry for killing (terrible people), sorry for stealing food (for his hungry brother), sorry for transporting drugs (out of his home country), sorry for killing (an innocent man to save his brother’s life)…. Instead, of course, he says he did the best he could to survive and isn’t sorry. Why would MIB want a man like this dead so badly that he went so far out of his way to target him? Of course, with all the time in the world, why not enjoy your kills

Smokey appears as someone you know who has died. They listed Christian, Dave, Yemi, and I forgot who else. Although they did not specify that all of those instances were Smokey, well… Christian actually leads Jack over a cliff, Dave leads Hurley off one, and Yemi, well, he just pulverizes Eko. We know Jack and Hurley are candidates who are pretty freaking hard to kill.

The stabbing: I don’t actually know if I think Locke has been affected by the stabbing. I don’t know if I even believe his slight shifty eyes when trying to bargain with Sayid and his weirdness about “recruiting” Kate have anything to do with anything. The popup said “This is the first time Kate has seen Locke and she knows he’s on the wrong side.” Hm. Ok. Guess I need to evaluate what Kate knows up to this point. If only I cared about Kate.

2004: Sayid’s spent 12 years trying to wash his hands of the horrible things he did. I want to believe very much that he’s been legit for those years. I don’t know if I can. But I do lament that his episode ended with violence finding him like it always does and him doing what he was born to do, kill. It’s sad. Jack heals his father/son issues, Locke comes to grips with what he CAN do, Kate something something, Ben puts Alex first, but Sayid, try as he might even in the sideways world, still ends up the assassin.

Dogen’s “what happened” sounded too much like Sayid’s, which is totally irrelevant. Dogen’s son survives in the flash sideways. That didn’t even occur to me. Wow. That’s actually super wonderful. I really like Dogen.

Ben’s flash sideways. When does it take place? I only ask because in 2004, Alex was 16 on the Island. If she’s aiming for Yale, would she still be 16? I wouldn’t know how early you need to tell Yale you exist And Alex is Alexandra Rousseau, just as she was. And her mother works two jobs and lives in freakin LA. WTH?

So much obviousness and awesomeness begins this episode’s sideflash. Napoleon, loss of power, “it’s about the kids,” Locke’s “man in charge” speech, history club! We now know the DI still existed and Roger still took Ben there, but they left for some reason. WTH? Ben is still disappointing his father (as we all are lately), but they do appear to be better than they were. I like the breathing issues, considering how the man died in Timeline 1.

Ilana says “That’s what I was told” when asked about the Temple being safe. She is clearly confused and gets only moreso as the episode moves along. How was Jacob like a father to Ilana? This is a bizarre thing to say. Their relationship has always been different, sure, but what the heck? Also, she seems pretty confident that there are 6 candidates left. Well, this should be subject of much talk. She has specifically been asking for Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, and Jin. She also asked for Sayid, but would she have mentally marked him out when Ben said he killed Dogen? I don’t recall her worrying too much about Kate, but she did say to Bram that Frank might be a candidate. His last name is not on the list that we’ve seen, so is he another fake last name person, like half the people on this show? I mean, he does bizarrely explain his absence from the first flight and Ben reminds him the island got him anyway. So…And is she counting Kwon as ONE candidate, I guess? Also, this is a good indication that Ilana is not a candidate, but a protector like Dogen was.

Miles has a few nice moments reading dead people. He confesses Ben murdering Jacob, he lets Ben know what Jacob was thinking (“He was hoping he was wrong about you.”), and he digs up a few of Nikki/Paulo’s diamonds! Woot! Now can we kill him?

Richard stuff: “Where’d you come from?” “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Is this referring to literally where he came from at that moment, which later he said was the Temple; or to his backstory, which we hope to get in a couple of eps? We get confirmation of the popular and long-hoped-for theory that Richard was from the Black Rock ship. He also seems to know that he still can’t kill himself, even if Jacob’s dead. That’s interesting. The pool’s powers seemed to have changed, but the “gifts” Jacob extended have not. In addition, Richard now has bad things to say about Jacob. And honestly, come on, God. Really? I just have a hard time understanding faith. Jacob, in all the bazillion years Richard was his guy, never told him a thing. And now he believes Jacob touching you is a curse. Does he just NOW believe that, heat of the moment stuff? Or will we get more information here?

Jack is the coolest cat around, now. In this week’s best scene he sits confident as the fuse burns closer and closer, knowing he is too important to die. Not only would the realization be insane, but the coming to terms with it, and the confidently testing it… Jack rules. And he needs information to do whatever it is that he needs to do. I am so excited and will write more about this probably after getting to think about any of it.

More Island Ben stuff: Locke tries to recruit Ben to Hydra Island (was mom right? They are going to the plane?) to take over as leader (or as Smokey?). We know Linus is marked out, so he’s not a candidate to replace Jacob, if that really still is what that means. But he gets to not kill Ilana and gets to confess to her what he’s been through, and she accepts him back into the fold. He really doesn’t appear to be manipulating anything at this point, but man, it’s rough to be totally unsuspicious of him. I have always always believed in his love for Alex above all else, even above his own desire for power, so since he now understands the smoke monster better, I hope he gets that it wasn’t really Alex telling him to follow Locke and doesn’t do something crazy. (***)

And in Ben’s sideways story, although he attempts to manipulate and scheme, he is easily outmaneuvered and loses because he actually puts others before himself. It really was beautiful to see him save her instead of himself this time around. So I guess a few is a pattern. In the sideways stories, our guys still have to make choices in similar situations, but this time they seem to do a little better. Sayid still chooses to kill, but seriously, these guys already beat his brother half to death and threatened the kids. If you’re a guy who can kill baddies without a conscience, I see little wrong with doing it. If you DON’T do it and these guys do something to your family, THEN how do you forgive yourself. Whatever.

And on the beach, Jack, Hurley, and Richard reunite with Sun, Frank, and the others. It’s interesting that Christian had told Sun that she had quite a trip ahead of her to find Jin, but really it’s only been a few days and she never had to go through time at all. So the bomb really WAS a surprise to MIB?

And then, Widmore on a sub. I was unaware of what everyone else was saying about this, and obviously he would be a discussed choice, but I hope I gave good arguments for why it SHOULD be him, because this is the right person to come back. I was way excited to see him on the sub. What is Jacob’s opinion of this? Did Widmore want Locke to go back to fill a role as a candidate for Jacob, or is he a minion of MIB all along?

Before I finish, Ben found The Chosen by Chaim Potok. I actually read this book quite recently. Woo! Surely people will be talking about this book like crazy. Let’s just say father/son issues galore; silence as a way of communication and way to introspection and understanding (Jacob allowing Jack to see the mirror and sit staring out at the sea is a great recent example); 2 boys on opposites sides (modern vs. traditional) become friends, and in the end, actually sort of reverse: the conservative rebels and the liberal conforms; succession to the father’s throne; the idea that even the Chosen can choose his own path; lots of parallel/contrasting characters, paths, locations, etc. In addition, the opening scene is Reuven getting hit in the EYE with a BASEBALL that Danny throws.

Good night for now!

OK, ug. This is an embarrassingly short gathering of quick questions and thoughts about last week’s episode, just so I can say I wrote something at all. No theories really, just chunder. I will totally do better this episode!
Can MIB take over bodies, before Locke’s, that were candidates?
He could have gotten off Island as Christian or any number of dead people, but chose Locke specifically as the body he will stay as or because he killed Jacob with it? He had to be Locke to get Ben to do everything. He’s been manipulating Ben since he arrived. Appeared as his mother, for example. To get him crowned king and get him to kill Jacob. Only a candidate or leader can kill Jacob? And only willingly?
Why does he need recruits to “get off this Island’?
Sayid still worked as “a candidate” (smokey can’t kill him) even though he was infected? Why? Is he not infected with bad Smokey vibes?
How does everyone feel about Kate going along? What does she think of Locke? Does she know what’s going on?
Sayid does not translate oil whatsits. Did you SEE the way he killed those dudes? Or even just the way he almost killed Omer when he woke him. Psh.
Has being stabbed affected Locke? He seemed more iffy than usual when offering Sayid his deal. Then when Kate arrives, he also seems suddenly unsure. Maybe it’s nothing to do with the knife (what if it brings forth his Locke-ness?) which surely was poisoned and surely was more important than the plot it forwarded.
Dogen’s story: Making a deal with Jacob is really not much different than making a deal with MIB. Keep thinking of a Jacob as a giver of life/MIB as death and thinking that doesn’t make them good or bad, just counterparts to a necessary process. Now that they both appear to be acting outside their possible purpose, though, intent seems to matter more.
Killing Dogen/Lennon in pool. Will this be significant? Also, did he leave the knife there? Hm. (and of course, how vorpal sword am I thinking now!) I imagine Lennon is a goner, but Dogen very well may not be. He was powerful and was drowned in the waters like Sayid was. *shrug*
Also, did Dogen give in to death like Jacob did?
Jin at the end: was he there because of the money or the watch? And where the heck is Sun? And will Sayid do anything about it?
Sayid, my dear boy, violence finds you wherever you go. You were born this way; it is hard to blame you for what you are.
Still not sure why Claire or someone couldn’t have just brushed the ash aside for Locke to get in. It worked at the cabin.
Where’s Richard? Apparently Sawyer and Jin are “back” somewhere (hopefully forming a fabulous plan for thwarting Locke).
Is Locke aware of Kate’s ambiguous candidacy or does he believe only the ones who represent the numbers are the remaining ones?
Favorite scene was obviously Ben backing out of the pool room….
Mom points out there is a still a possibly working plane on Hydra Island. Is Locke trying to populate that plane with people?
Also, Richard had said that Ben was wasting time with Juliet and the baby situation, instead of focusing on what was important. Locke also warned Ben that they were cheating. And then Flocke says I am disappointed in all of you. What is this important purpose everyone is supposed to be fulfilling?

I feel I must give further explanation.

There’s just too much stuff. It’s become so overwhelming to even know where to begin sticking in pins. Do I bother lining out some parallels from previous episodes (Sayid kills Dogen and Lennon, similar to Michael killing Ana Lucia and Libby)? Or do I focus on things I didn’t understand (Why did Smokey send Claire in instead of asking her to brush away the ash?)? Or should I just compliment (the Temple aftermath scene was totally bizarre and super creepy)? I still have tons of speculations and thoughts on previous and ongoing things (Is Smokey really recruiting to get off the Island? What does that mean? He could just kill all these people outright at this point, so why gather them?). I could discuss deeper themes or more Alice parallels; I could discuss connections that occurred in this ep; I could discuss the title; I could discuss each character and what’s going to happen with them; I could discuss just this eps backstory, just this eps Island story; I could probably do a whole entry just on Sayid finding Jin, held by Keamy and Omar, in the freezer of what could have been the same restaurant Naomi gave Miles his tryout.

I mean, seriously! How does one really do this in a week at this point! I could do an entry every night and that would BEGIN to cover it. So that, my 2 readers, is why I have not been able to post. *sigh*

Yes, I know I’ve not posted. My thoughts were aaaalllll over the place and I never could find a moment to make them coherent enough to actually write anything. I don’t see any problem with just not posting for an episode. This is my blog and I’ll do what I want! Shut up!

OK, I lied. A bit more random thoughts…

The MIB/Christian thing has been bothering me. When Claire first explains to Jin that her father and her friend told her so, I heard it as “my father AND my friend.” That led to me thinking that this was the indicator that the two existed simultaneously and were not both Smokey. But when I watched it the second time, Claire ACTUALLY says “First my father, THEN my friend.” This phrasing indicates that one was before the other, and she offers no indication that she saw her father AFTER meeting MIB. BUT since she seems to be able to recognize MIB as “her friend” even though he’s dressed as Locke, surely she would have recognized him as her father as well. So that actually reinforces the idea that Christian and MIB are NOT the same. So I’m back where I started. Anyways. Although does she imply BOTH of them were her company on the Island, or just that she wasn’t alone? Damn, how many times do I have to watch this?

I’m thinking about Dogen’s reaction to Hurley telling him he can do whatever he wants because he’s a candidate, compared to Dogen’s reaction when Jack asks whether leaving’s an option, compared to Dogen’s reaction to Sawyer leaving, etc. If a list of candidate names was in the ankh, which I believe is true and I believe only the last names were provided (hence Aldo’s confusion with Jin, who was only indicated by Kwon), then Dogen would apparently be forced to protect all the people named. Now, I had read one translation of D’s response to Hurley, and R found another one. They are completely different. In one translation Dogen explains that he is tasked with protecting the candidates, but in the other he implies that he cannot harm them because candidates are protected. The second translation is probably the more accurate (Though protected by what? And literally will nothing be able to happen to them by the hands of Others? Will something always happen to prevent their death by certain hands?) since we’ve seen Michael Dawson’s attempts to die and now we’ve seen Dawson on the dial, if he is ‘protected’ then even by his own hand he will not die. In addition, ‘Friendly’ was on the dial, so he would know this to be true. My point is Dogen says to Jack that he would have to stop him leaving, yet he did nothing to stop Sawyer, Kate, and Jin. And then nothing to Hurley. And could it explain why they have not killed Sayid (they try to get another Candidate to do it, but that’s part of the fun manipulation of free will around here) and why they did not kill Claire? Is there an actual physical impossibility to it or just a rule? Aw damn, also it might explain why Ben is under an impression that he and Widmore cannot kill each other and why he thought Alex could not be killed…

Is there some importance to the fact that Kate is not one of the numbers but is still listed as a candidate? I’m totally fine with Claire axing her, but I do think it interesting that Jacob did not invite Kate, even though she is still a candidate. In fact, what was the deal with that whole scene with Hurley/Jack/Kate? Other than to remind us that Kate and Jack have different paths to take or emphasize how much more relevant Jack is than her to Jacob, idk. Haven’t thought this through, just thought after the second viewing that it was actually kind of a weird scene. Maybe, maybe not.

Also more and more the manipulation of free will is bothersome. MIB is probably right. Jacob (or someone or something) has been manipulating things all along. To revisit “White Rabbit” for a sec, Jack follows his father to the caves, where he finds water and shelter that helps save people. Of course, if there’s a Jacob/water connection, then I feel too much like Jacob was the one manipulating this scenario. Whoa. I just thought of something. In the mobisode scene where Christian tells Vincent to go wake his son, he has work to do, he is wearing the conspicuous white tennis shoes (and behaves very Jacob-like). Then when leading Jack through the jungle, he wears them. Then when he visits Jack off-Island, he is wearing them. Is he wearing them in the cabin or when talking to Locke or with Claire or at the barracks in 2007? Actually, he’s wearing the whole suit when he visits Jack but wearing those other weird clothes when he visits Claire, Locke, Sun&Frank, and Michael (to tell him he can go). WTH man? At first I thought I was going to come to the conclusion that he was barefoot, which would make him Jacob because him and his people in the Temple are often barefoot (which reminds me of how often Sawyer has conspicuously gotten stuck barefoot on this Island…). But actually the white shoes could still indicate that he’s a Jacob/good guy entity in those circumstances.

Did I ever say that he was at the barracks in 2007 at the same time as Flocke was on Hydra Island? (I still don’t know how Smokey got to Hydra Island.) I think I said it out loud but not here. So there it is. Although we have not ever seen them in the same place at the same time, and maybe Smokey could still be more than one guy until he killed Jacob and became stuck as Locke…?

OK, although I had found more fun with the Looking Glass idea that naturally, in a Looking Glass world, you’d not be able to see the thing you want to see, I’m also trying to think logically about some things. (Logic, applied to Lost, is, by necessity, a different animal.) I was thinking about how many times on the Island something is where someone needs it to be. The magic box idea that Ben tells to Locke. Ben needs a spinal surgeon, and one falls out of the sky. Kate wants the Halliburton case and there it is, even though it was always suspicious that it should be there. The copious quantities of heroin that keep landing in Charlie’s lap. The Cabin is the perfect example, of course. So is it really so different to have a lighthouse where there was none before? Hurley was exactly right. They simply were never looking for it before. Which is to say, no one needed it. But now Jack does, so it appears. Good lord, how many times has someone needed a frikkin GUN on this show and now how many are there?

Oh shit, back to the manipulation of free will thing. My point was going to be that from the very start, these people were manipulated down the paths Jacob and MIB wanted them to take. If they start going off course “the universe” course corrects. It’s sucky because what so far has really been their choice? Idk. It feels like Ben was only doing what the lessons of the Others and Jacob taught him when he captured Jack and attempted to get him to perform the surgery because he “wanted to.” They planned vast manipulations to get Jack’s heart set in a place to do it. And despite setbacks, it worked. Partly thanks to the manipulation of the locks on the doors at just the right time to see naked Kate and Sawyer on the screen. Blahblahblah, I just realized how much time I’ve spent musing on this stuff instead of what I should be doing….working…

ARGH! OK, again, Kate’s name. I find it interesting that MIB did not note her name or the three others not marked out yet. He implies that only Sayid, Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, and Kwon remain. Does he not know of Kate’s candidacy? How did he figure out who they were and list them in the cave? If he has to do it sneakily and cleverly over many difficult years (and how??), then he actually may be unaware of Kate’s candidacy. I do hate kate, but is there something more to her role? Will she be some sort of dark horse or surprise to MIB? And how does Ilana play into this in relation to the other non-crossed out names?

OK, the Wallace thing. Yes, we’ve all realized Wallace may actually be the one coming. And I think it’s common knowledge that Wallace is Scottish. And Desmond is Scottish. Also Widmore is Scottish. In the Bad Twin book, the importance of that fact to the Widmore family is emphasized over and over again. I will be happy with either Desmond or Widmore (or both) arriving to the Island.

Desmond: We do need closure here. He is asked by Faraday to tell him mom whatever. Ellie says the island’s not done with him yet. But then Ellie believes she has no idea what will happen. His story could be anticlimactically over, since he promised Penny he’d not leave her again. About time we got to see the bastard keep a frakkin promise. But again, that anticlimax is bothersome. BUT we have so many heroes already. The stage is crowded. If Jack’s the key and Sawyer’s the key but Juliet was the key but Kate’s a secret key, but without Hurley no one would know anything, but Faraday was the key, but… well, my point is that we are getting to the end and although you can have lots of heroes in the process of a story, in the end we are going to essentially want a standoff with just a couple of at least somewhat clear bad guys and good guys led by Jacob and MIB or represented by Jack and Locke or Ben and Widmore or whatever. You see what I’m saying? In the end, there can be only one. And to drag Desmond back into it because of how important he is…I don’t know, muddies the waters, pardon the pun.

Widmore: He’s even MORE left without a final storyline. He’s been THE guy manipulating things off Island for years and years. He’s been the leader and hasn’t exactly given up wanting to be again. He directs Locke back to the Island to be taken over by MIB. Did he do that knowingly? He says the battle will be won by the wrong side. I could see him pulling the strings for Smokey off-Island all along. He and Ben had a rivalry, but if Widmore was aware of the facts and Ben was being manipulated, how much more clever the reveal? Widmore’s been gunning for this place for 20 years, it’s about time he made it back. In addition, we know the writers aren’t done with Ben. It will be quite fascinating to watch Ben take Jacob’s side against MIB/Locke/Widmore. Now, we do care less about Widmore than we do Desmond, but I do feel he plays a much more relevant role on the Island than Desmond would. I think Desmond was mostly being manipulated by Faraday’s mother so she could save her son. Her goals were never Island-oriented; she gave up her leadership for her son, failed at it, and maybe Desmond was a pawn in that particular game only.

Wow, I’m still talking. OK. BYE!

Timelines. Clearly the two timelines are having some influence over each other. I don’t know how that can be explained, especially since they are 3 years apart (I know, *that’s* the problem with the idea of parallel universes or split timelines). If they were both in 2004 and happening at the same “time” where they were actually parallel, it would make more sense. HA! Yeah, why bother arguing this, idk. Anyway, Timeline 2 Jack and Timeline 1 Jack are clearly connected, but sort of like the two phoenix feathers in Voldemort’s and Harry’s wands. Which means that the two Lockes would be connected as well, which means MIB is compromised. Even with Locke dead, he’s in there. MIB has already shown some old Locke frustration and admiration, and maybe T2 Locke has had some MIB bleedover, although I’m not sure how. Point is, I’m curious as to whether MIB is affected in battle and strategy. In addition, can Claire or Sayid be affected by their other selves?

Mirrors. Jack with appendix scar, Jack looking into creek, Jack in the lighthouse. The amount of soul searching in this episode for the poor man…. First Jacob sets him into a certain state of mind by reminding him of what his father never believed of him. Then he leads him to a place where he can relive all that shit. Can you imagine learning that someone has been able to watch your private struggles, your defining events, from a lighthouse on an invisible Island? How horrible to look in that mirror and know what pain and anger and screwed-uppedness are in there. As this ep constantly reminded us, it was basically a mirror of Ep. 1.05, White Rabbit. Did I say this already? In White Rabbit, Jack destroys the coffin and then comes back to the camp to give his famous speech. He beats the shit out of his father and his father’s ideas of him and goes back and delivers the big speech. In Lighthouse, Jack begins that same process by busting up all that bullshit in his past. And as mom pointed out, Jack’s an action guy who doesn’t exactly stare out at the ocean to determine what’s next. Catharses and epiphanies are amazing things. Back to how the two Jacks are connected: The T2 Jack has learned to let go, he actually sounds not hateful when talking about his father to his son, and he breaking free from that hold his father had on him. He was genuinely hurt when he realized his mother was right that his own son might be as afraid of him as he was of his father. Which Jack is influencing which? I picture a transdimensional soul bleedover (band name!), like gravity.

Lighthouse and Lists. We also saw the pagoda where Sun/Jin married and the church were Sawyer’s parents’ funeral was. That answers a question for me. If a name is crossed off, can you still see something there? It appears not likely. We did not see any other things as they were passing crossed-out numbers, including nothing about Sayid, who should have been passed between the Kwons and Sawyer, and would be ruled out as a candidate at this point. Maybe Jacob does not determine who is a candidate but some power behind what the lighthouse is does. By which I mean, the mirror knows what it no longer shows. Then Jacob marks out the name on the dial.

Three other names besides ‘Austen’ were not crossed out. Kysea, Grimwault, Haasra. Ilana? Bram? Caesar? Any of the other guys with them?

More thoughts on The Lists. As previously mentioned, Danny Pickett said ‘Shephard’ wasn’t even on the list, so what list was Pickett looking at? I thought maybe Ben just created it, but Ben WANTED Jack, so he would have put Jack on any fake list he made up. Also, none of the Tailies so far are listed on the cave (dark=MIB) or in the lighthouse (light=Jacob) and they were grabbed based on lists (yes, Goodwin made them, which begs the question still, what criteria were they using? Feels sorta sacrilegious to just make them up.) OK, my point is that clearly in some way (I have no idea the process, since I normally would have thought Richard would have been the go-to guy if Ben couldn’t “see” him, but wouldn’t Richard have known something was up? Also, his knowledge that Jacob lived in the foot instead of the cabin is still suspect to me.), clearly in some way, MIB may have had control of the lists. A false candidate list would make anyone who is NOT on the list into easier enemies. He can most easily get the Others to do his dirty work for him. He cannot kill candidates, but he can get other people to. I mean, Other people.

Wounds. Claire says if there’s one thing on the Island that’ll kill ya, it’s infection. Obviously this is a cute joke since we are to believe she is infected, but halt! The Island heals people (at least it did until Jacob died; still think Jacob=Water). No one dies of infection here, people. They get better. Except Sawyer actually almost died of infection once! If he had not gotten back to Jack, he would have died. Who let that happen? Well, he DID get shot OFF the Island, actually. Hm. And by an Other. Hm. And the other time it was an issue was Jack getting appendicitis, which was referenced in this ep. It could have killed him, but someone knew he was with a fine doctor maybe? I don’t know yet. Damn, I am getting too tired. (Yes, all written in a drowsy stupor.)

Random fun. I wondered if the music David played was the same as what Daniel was playing as a child, and it looks like it was. Chopin. Fantaisic-Impromptu.
Dogen wears a telescope necklace (a former lighthouse keeper?) and protects the candidates poorly. Unless of course he was actually totally cool with the candidates all exiting the Temple. Obviously Smokey is coming and it is probably best they not be there.
What if sideways world was what things are like if Jacob never touches them? Although, he touches Sayid and Hurley after the return from the crash, although I still believe in the ripple theory that what changes now affects both your future and past. Meh. Idk.
What if MIB was one of the Candidates at one time? The first Candidate who failed and was replaced by blond Jacob? Not likely, just think about it.

Claire’s possible story is this so far: She wanders away and Christian tells her the Others took her baby (oh, hearing it again, she actually says FIRST my father tells me, then my Friend does. That could debunk the idea that they are NOT the same, but also it might not because she still recognizes her Friend although he’s disguised and still doesn’t acknowledge that he was her father as well.). Still think it’s possible she died in the explosion and an entity took her body. Rousseau had died moments before that. The entity that claimed her may have found Claire right away and that’s why she was ambulatory and why Miles looked at her weird. She was claimed in that back room. Then she starts the ‘attack the Others’ method of finding Aaron, so they shoot her (good girl, doing her own sewing) and take her to the Temple, where they discover she is already claimed. Then she escapes (hm. Really? Not buying all this story so far.)

Lots more Alice stuff to have fun with:
The store where whatever you looked at wasn’t there.
The Carpenter and the Walrus, the idea of how to decide who is good…based on actions or intent?
More stuff I don’t have time to cram in here right now. I’ll just tack more on to next week’s entries if there’s room. I mean, a Sayid episode?? Feel like I should rewatch his first Season 1 episode to find the parallels.

A few more things thinking about today:
Why did Jacob have Hurley write everything down? I need to see a transcript of his arm. Didn’t seem like that difficult to do what he had to. Was it just one of those fun comments from the writers about how Lost fanatics are?

Curious about Jacob’s knowledge of what Jack would do in the Lighthouse. If he’s all about free will, how much does Jacob know of anything? So likely he’s got a contingency plan for everything. In this case, Plan A may have been to let him see 108, Wallace (maybe the person who is coming to the Island? Since Miles’ name is crossed out, we can assume that to be eliminated you do not have to be dead) and determine what help he could provide. Wallace may be an important person in Jack’s life, and as a result, he still understands how important he is. Plan B is if Jack happens to see his own name, he will probably want to see what’s there, and will probably freak out. So, Jacob must be OK with the fact that Jack will bust shit up. And he still understands how important he is. Plan C is that Jacob is not only OK with the mirror being destroyed, but he encourages it. Maybe at one time there were several Neos, but now the group of Neos who will actually change something have arrived (“They’re coming.”). The End Game is here and Jacob knows it. He seems so concerned and desperate now, but he still does not reveal the details. He needs people to come to conclusions on their own and take most actions on their own. Although he is pretty plain with Hurley when it comes to orders.

Dogen in Jack’s sideways is the same age as Dogen now. Does this mean Dogen on the Island is also this age and from current times? There was the possibility that he was from ancient times (I mean, time travel does occur) or a Richard-type old guy (I mean, there is Richard). But now it seems like this may have been confirmation of his not being here very long and being from the present.

Shephard, David: More biblical fun. David the shepherd boy was chosen by Samuel (a long-ago rumored name for MIB) to be king after Saul loses favor with God. Saul (from the tribe of Benjamin) remains king and we get the David and Goliath story, David’s “friendship” with Jonathan (Saul’s son), David hiding in the wilderness, and all kinds of fun when he finally becomes king, including his lust for Bathsheba and murderous decision to put her husband on the front lines (at least in the Christian Bible version). More importantly, David was also a songwriter, a musician, a poet, and was descended from, of course, Jacob. Could there BE more hints to the relevance of the Shephards? Squee!

So much evidence that Jack is Alice in his own story, but one other tidbit occurred to me today: in a mobisode that seemed to be pretty irrelevant at the time, Christian (the White Rabbit who leads Jack to the caves) gives Jack a watch. Duh!

Also read and felt Lostish about these ideas from the Looking Glass today:
Alice is told that to say what she means is not the same as meaning what she says.
Alice must run as fast as she can to stay where she is.
The white queen describes the advantages of living backward in time and says things happen every way except the way they are supposed to.
Really, this could all be explored to death, which I’d totally do Season 3 style if I had the time I had back then

Mom Thoughts
Mom (who is exploring the Alice angle as well) called to tell me this one thing: Lewis Carroll kept a diary in which he would draw a black stone or a white stone depending on what kind of day he had.

But she also ended up telling me that she thinks Dogen’s baseball is NOT just a baseball. We now know that Dogen shows up in Jack’s sideways story and the fact that Jack tries to bond with his son over baseball is suggested. What if Dogen has some awareness of this sideways life and is trying to trigger Jack’s memories?

Also, she said Lewis Carroll had a collection of music boxes, which he liked to play…backwards. She suggests I see if Danielle’s music box plays anything backwards. Awesome fun

Oh, and from Alice in Wonderland, Claire’s baby with a boar’s head reflects the pig baby! Mom’s cool.

OK, it occurs to me I don’t always blog the things I say out loud. So for example, I said Tuesday night that the writers have still not said MIB’s name. The build up to this name is so huge at this point. Whatever it is, apparently the writers believe it is a huge reveal. It’s hard for me to guess at this point what could possibly be revealed in a name that is so important that it should be guarded so closely. I mean, it’s not Voldemort. Or is it? Obviously it could be something that will give away the whole game too early (a name that is tied to a character in some other piece of literature, the plot of which is the ending of Lost? A historical figure who did a particular thing that will give away who the good guy really is?). Really, I guess that’s the only option. It could be lameness on the part of the writers, but I’m not counting on it. Also, I would almost be happy if he was nameless in the end. His name may be as ever-changing and forgotten as smoke, even to MIB.

In other names, I saw one was “Friendly.” Why did it never occur to me Tom’s actual last name was Friendly? Did they facetiously name him Mr. Friendly then later decide it might as well be his canon last name?

These last two paragraphs remind me, Claire called MIB her “friend” and Jacob had called him an “old friend” and definitely the relationship with Richard was something like old friends. Just pointing it out.

Adam and Eve. Hurley, as usual, speaking for the fans: Are our Losties going to be Adam and Eve via the time-traveling loophole? Of course, quite possibly. I’ve been saying either Jacob or MIB was a woman and these are actually their bodies. Why not!? The black and white stones indicate they may have at least been aware of the rivalry, though. And these are the guys that we’ve been told are the proof that Darlton knew where they were going with this all along.

The Lighthouse. OK, so why DIDN’T anyone see it before? It’s a frakkin Lighthouse. Hurley says, “I guess we weren’t looking for it.” Actually, in Looking Glass world a thing that was built to be seen would be the exact thing no one would ever see. Am I right? OK, but what’s the real answer?

Dogen pops into Jack’s life in the sideways world! It’s a guarantee Sawyer and Juliet meet now, as little sense as it might make! WTH was Dogen doing in LA? WTH was Rose doing with a job in LA (as the extras said)? These people are clearly all going to cross paths. Fate/the Island/Jacob/divine chi draws them into each others’ orbits, hopefully in happier ways, but where would the fun be in perfection? Give me some crazy! [I do like R’s idea that maybe this Timeline is something of a reward Jacob bestows after they actually do save the Island. (I worry that you just told me part of the damn end, actually.) He wiggles his way back into their pasts and helps them at other important moments, and this new future occurs. In fact, what if some of the moments we already saw WERE those moments? Idk. Hard to make that work. Meh.]

Jacob says they need to help someone get to the Island? Widmore? Ellie? The real leader? Someone who can actually stop MIB?

Jacob, I still maintain that a dude who is willing to draw people in to kill each other just to prove a point isn’t all that great a guy. And the fact that he’s popped into the Losties lives seems like cheating. Back to the Job thing, I didn’t think “God” was awesome either. He let Satan kill the man’s entire family to prove Job wouldn’t curse God. Seriously? The “greatest” being in the universe, the purest good that ever existed, allowed 12 innocent children to be slaughtered to prove a little point. Jacob is not “white.” He’s probably the “good guy,” sure, but he’s getting to his point in gray ways. What IS his point? He told MIB he wanted to prove humanity was good. MIB is telling people the Jacob wants to protect the Island, although there’s nothing to protect it from. Although in real life, people have lots of objectives sometimes, it helps to have one clear main one in storytelling, so what is Jacob’s? What actual facts do we know about him? He summons people to the Island. He watches them throughout their lives. He pushes them to some goal. He knows they will likely be eliminated one by one throughout the process. He encourages free will, or at least pays good lip service to it. None of this feels like Island-protecting. What else? Most everything else we “know” is actually interpretation from Richard, Ben, MIB, Ilana, etc. Still thinking, but super sleepy…

Jin. Why was he going back to the Temple, again? I mean, now it’s because he lied to Claire and needs help. And MIB meets up with them. Jin gets to lead the Destructors to the Temple. Nice. The Temple is about to be smashed. Jacob successfully led Jack and Hurley away from it, of course. Jack is too important. We got the big foreshadowing of this from Season 3 when no one would accept it. Sawyer and Kate were pawns in the greater game that was securing Jack. Get used to it people. And back to Jack’s world, actually, we are all aware they probably picked a blue-eyed kid for a reason. Juliet could, of course, easily be the kid’s mom.

Damn, I’m tired for now. Night night.

I am completely giddy over this explanation of the numbers. Giddy. That was the coolest. Now, why was the mirror on Jack’s childhood house? Surely we are to assume it literally was showing the house back in the 70s/80s rather than showing the house as it currently sits. I assume Jacob would want to illustrate to Jack that Jack’s been watched since childhood to “understand how important he is.” But surely it doesn’t always show the same time periods, and instead the time the mirror shows can also be changed. Does Jacob have control over any of that (when/where it shows)? In addition, was it showing Timeline 1 or Timeline 2? Could it show either, or any number of options?

Speaking of numbers again, who is 108? It probably doesn’t matter. Jacob would certainly know that Jack would insist on checking out his own name and 108 would never get looked at. A quick search shows that “Wallace” was crossed out on the 108 slot. (This name was probably actually here more for fans to look up than for Jack to.) Would be interesting to see what is shown in the mirror if a crossed-out slot is chosen. Will have to check out the remaining names later. Jack’s, in both the cave and on the wheel, looks new, which could just be prop issues. But it does make me wonder if there are only 360 names in all of history or if names get replaced, meaning Jack is 23 because previous 23s have already failed or become Jacob (if that’s really what candidacy means).

Jack’s son. Another fantastic sideways story. Though, sure, it’s pretty typical dad/son stuff, I loved seeing Jack as a father, getting to heal the wounds his father gave him, trying to correct those mistakes but really just do the best he can. Of course, one wonders if Sarah was the mother and if Jack still is divorced. He is still so much more mellow, so what changed in his life to make him this way? Not a lot, but just enough, it looks like. I like that he’s still a bit of a wired freak about things, I mean, he did bust an ancient mirror that reflects the past or something. They are playing the personality differences with subtlety in most cases and it feels smooth and accurate. You might never be a completely different person if certain things changed, but maybe you’d be a little better version of yourself. Which is clearly what Jack has managed in his life “after” the Island.

Alice in Wonderland again! Of course, we are to get lots of things from this. White Rabbit was the season 1 episode that mirrored this one most, and it was referenced several times (he followed his father’s ghost to the caves and water to discover the coffin was empty), but also Jack read Alice to Aaron in Timeline 1. And of course, Jack has always been referenced as the Alice character in this show, combined with the Looking Glass hatch and white rabbits and time issues and big ol’ holes to fall down…well, now we have the metaphorical Looking Glass world in Timeline 2, and a literal Looking Glass world through the mirror. I will have to do even more reading of Alice just for the hell of it.

Claire. Both Christian and Locke have lied to her about Aaron. Wait! She said “that’s my friend,” referring to Flocke walking in. But Smokey only recently took Locke’s form, not long enough ago to have even seen her. So she recognizes that he’s actually Smokey in whatever form he is? Earlier she said “my father and my friend,” which implies she does not think her father is Smokey. Which implies that her father is NOT Smokey. Which supports the Legion of Entities theory. Interesting.

She totally brutally axes a dude in the chest! That was awesome!

OK, she’s clearly Claire, at least as much as Sayid is Sayid and a little more than Smokey is Locke, and her story is that they really did take her to the Temple for a little dip (curious about how that came about) and poke test, which she also failed. How did she get away? Does that mean Danielle was ever taken there for the same thing? And was the same entity in Danielle now with Claire? The parallels with their stories are of course purposely similar. If the same being claims her that claimed Danielle…interesting. Have always had the theory that the Island can only hold a certain number of souls, and once we learned about the rivalry, wondered if Smokey must eliminate new ones and Jacob replace as old ones die, etc.

Speaking of Smokey eliminating… well, grr….. I have to go!

Added: I kept trying to think of what the tic-tac-toe game was getting at, and I’m so stupid! Today someone was talking and said “stalemate” and my brain clicked! LOL god, the eternal stalemate that is tic-tac-toe with two halfway intelligent people…

More to say later, hopefully, thinking about Jacob still, his “white”ness is doubtful to me…

A few more thoughts before I call mom and probably during…

Sawyer can’t be killed by MIB because he’s a candidate? Does this mean Michael couldn’t die because he was a candidate? Until time was up, whatever that means, until he does something to prove he no longer IS a candidate or until he’s killed through a loophole? Which leads to when is it ok for a candidate to die? When they kill each other off, it’s fine, but Smokey himself is not allowed to? Does that mean Eko was NOT a candidate? He seemed like one to me! And the pilot? But it explains why it never harmed Jack, etc. And does this mean that not everyone who ends up on the Island is a candidate? And still, that means what? I keep thinking MIB is lying and this is HIS cave, but actually, now that I think about it, Jacob COULD have been preparing candidates knowing that MIB would find that loophole someday. I find it hard to believe that Jacob didn’t see what MIB was doing all this time. Maybe he is just not allowed to stop it for some reason or perhaps MIB’s actions would be the catalyst that causes this group of survivors to actually “end” things and prove Jacob right.

42 could very well be Ji Yeon rather than either of the parents. As R said very concisely “That’s why ‘their love’ matters.” Exactly my thoughts.

MIB says a lot of J believing he needed to protect the Island. But seems like J’s objectives had nothing to do with that. He continuously brought people to the Island. J’s objectives seem to have remained pure, to prove mankind is good (something God tried to prove through Job in a bet with the Devil. Yes, people believe that. And I hate that I know Christian theology better than anything else, because surely these stories came before the Christian version and surely these smart writers know far more than I.). But MIB has grown tired of the battle, and has focused his attentions on killing Jacob and escaping his “prison.”

Locke/MIB: MIB, just like Locke 1, has been unable to accept his position in life and is resistant to the rules and laws that make him what he is. Locke 2 has come to terms with his limitations and vows to live happy in those boundaries. Something something.

The kid…the first time we see him: blood on his hands, a holy light. Could still be Jacob. J does have a lot of blood on his hands, despite being the good guy. Also could refer to MIB having killed him but not for good. They seem to WANT us to be aware of this kid’s resemblance to J. And they’d have to know we’d find a resemblance to Aaron as well. Though I think Aaron’s older presence would be harder to explain. I still say “you know the rules, you cannot kill him” refer to Sawyer. And the kid’s demeanor was more angry than authoritative to me, but MIB did seem to be somewhat frustrated by the enforcement of those rules. The child could be a higher being or just the referee or still Jacob. If it’s Jacob he could be referring to the idea that you cannot kill good, you always have to have both. But how abstract is that?

Added: Mom says MIB falls and ends up prostrate looking up at the child. The Child is absolutely above MIB.
Old spoiler states that we find out Jacob has a child, and Locke is one of the possibilities…hm.
In any case, it’s still possible this is a third entity who just knows who to appear as to affect MIB the most. Appearing as kid Jacob if the two were kids together here at some point would be perfect.
Free. Will. Free. Will. ……. Such a thing…. The rules….

Also how far back do Locke’s changes go? He was into science as a teenager but denied that part of himself to try popularity and jockhood. But now he’s a substitute science teacher and coach. Which implies he accepted more a true blend of who he is and what he likes. Did Mittelos Bioscience exist for him to go to camp? And Locke and Helen, I love that they clearly must have met in a totally different way, but still they met and fell in love.

I definitely think the cave has to be Smokey’s, I mean, if Juliet’s name was on there marked out and she died hours after Jacob did, then he would have to mark her out after he died, so who marked her out? MIB, surely. UNLESS…the names are not marked out at the time of death, but instead when that person is no longer considered a “candidate.” Linus is marked out. If it refers to Ben, then he’s still alive and not considered a candidate. If it refers to Roger, then it could’ve been at death. “Straume” is also marked out. He’s not dead, but he DID refuse candidacy sort of when he refused to accept Bram’s offer to go to the Island.

Ok, other people we don’t see (which doesn’t mean anything) Kate, Ana Lucia, Michael or Walt, Eko… Here’s the thing: Pickett didn’t think Jack was on Jacob’s list, and Patchy didn’t think Kate, Locke, or Sayid were on the list. So all that proves is that the Others believed in a list that did not have these people on it. Was THEIR list actually Jacob’s and this list is MIB’s? Or is this Jacob’s real list and MIB was giving lists to the Others instead? And why did Richard not know? How did this much get past him? If Richard was always conveying the messages to Ben, who was Richard getting the messages from and why didn’t he know what was up? And why does Ilana know so much more?? (”He’s stuck this way now.”) Sure, Jacob told her, I guess, but what did he tell her, how did he know, and why her? Is she the off-Island Richard? Whatever that means! But reminds me, why is MIB NOW stuck this way? He took over Christian’s body for a long time and wasn’t stuck that way. Is it because Jacob is dead? Interested to know more about this…

What if Smokey can’t leave until someone takes his place? The “substitute” means MIB can get off the Island in Locke’s body as long as someone willingly takes his place as Smokey on the Island, and refers to his attempt to get Sawyer to be that guy. Awesome. He should ask Sawyer What does one snowman say to the other snowman?

Gonna call mom…